ORLANDO, Fla., Nov. 25, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Kicking off our “Home for the Holidays” campaign, priceless pets are free to adopt starting on Black Friday through the weekend at the Pet Alliance of Greater Orlando’s two animal shelters, 2727 Conroy Road, Orlando, FL 32839 and 2800 County Home Road, Sanford, FL 32773. Both shelters are open from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, and from noon to 4 p.m. on Sunday.

“Normally holiday shoppers are waiting in line to get into stores on Black Friday. At the Pet Alliance of Greater Orlando, our adorable dogs and cats are in line to get out of the animal shelter and into loving homes just in time for the holidays,” said Kerri Burns, Executive Director for Pet Alliance of Greater Orlando. “We have set the goal to have our two animal shelters empty by December 31st with every homeless pet being placed in a permanent new home.”

On average, Pet Alliance invests about $300 in every adoptable pet to provide sterilization, micro chipping, vaccinations, flea and heartworm prevention, pet health insurance, and a veterinarian examination. All adoptable pets are available for viewing online at www.petallianceorlando.org. For information about adoptable pets at either location, call (407) 351-7722 during business hours.

Adopters will have to meet adoption requirements. Families adopting pets are asked to bring a collar and leash for dogs or a carrier for cats who are adopted or purchase one on site at both locations.

About Pet Alliance of Greater Orlando

As the go-to pet experts across Central Florida, the Pet Alliance of Greater Orlando does good things for dogs and cats and the people who love them. Formerly the SPCA of Central Florida, the organization’s goal is to provide compassionate and knowledgeable services for pets and to be leaders in innovative animal care and veterinary medicine. More than 10,000 homeless dogs and cats will turn to the Pet Alliance of Greater Orlando for caring, compassion, and hope through its two animal shelters this year. Highly skilled veterinarians will help and heal an additional 45,000 animals through two veterinary clinics. Providing shelter for animals in crisis, disaster response efforts, and pet food pantry programs for dogs and cats in need, thousands of additional animals are helped each year. Visit www.PetAllianceOrlando.org for more information.

Forgoing the carrot-and-stick approach, the City Council is moving to outlaw the sale of rabbits, because the cuddly creatures are multiplying like, well, rabbits.

The council’s Elmer Fudd edict wouldn’t force owners to give up bunnies already in their homes.

But a bill, which had a second public hearing Monday, would make it illegal for pet shops to “display, offer for sale, deliver, barter, auction, give away, transfer or sell” the little critters.

“Rabbits are the third most commonly surrendered animal in city shelters following dogs and cats,” said Christine Mott, who heads the city Bar Association’s Committee on Animal Law.

“They’re frequently dumped in city parks and brought to city shelters. There’s simply not enough room.”

The bunny ban is part of a broader bill that would prohibit pet shops from buying dogs from “puppy mills,” require more dogs to be licensed and give the city stricter enforcement powers over pet stores.

The portion on rabbits was added two weeks ago, said Councilwoman Liz Crowley (D-Queens).

“During holiday times — especially Easter — they’re purchased and often they’re purchased in pairs,” she said after a meeting of the council’s Health Committee.

“That’s why they reproduce so much.”

San Francisco, Los Angeles and Chicago have all banned pet stores from selling rabbits. Petco stopped selling them in 2008.

Unlike dogs and cats, rabbits are more difficult to spay and neuter. When they’re young, it’s hard to determine their gender, which means pet-shop clerks often unwittingly sell customers a boy and girl instead of a same-sex pair.

“That pair turns into 40 bunnies in six months,” Mott said.

Owners are then faced with a daunting choice — keep the growing brood, or turn some of them loose, either at a shelter or in the urban wild.

Their increased popularity has led to the number of unwanted rabbits nearly doubling in city-funded Animal Care and Control shelters — from 216 in 2011 to 399 last year, Crowley said.

Risa Weinstock, the agency’s executive director, noted that city shelters are “at maximum capacity for rabbits.”

And that doesn’t even begin to count the hundreds, if not thousands, released into parks.

“Most of these rabbits are not rescued,” said Natalie Reeves, founder of Big Apple Bunnies. “Most of them get eviscerated by dogs, cats, raccoons, hawks and killed by parasites before they can be rescued.”

Not everyone is in favor of the ban, though.

The Petland Discount shop on Nassau Street in lower Manhattan sells between four and eight rabbits a day, a clerk said.

“If I were a dog, that’s where I’d want to live,” says Dana Cox, editor-in-chief of Redstone Media Group, the publisher of Canadian Dogs Annual. “We looked at a wide range of issues that affect our companion animals’ lives. Criteria included access to veterinary care, training, pet sitters, and quality pet products, as well as the number of pet-friendly restaurants and accommodations. We even took into consideration air quality and the number of off leash parks and beaches.”

Cox says Kelowna topped the charts with the best air quality in the country and ranked in the top ten in number of pet centres, off leash parks and pet-friendly lodging.

British Columbia cleaned up in the top ten, with six BC cities making the cut.

During its budget deliberations in April, the City of Kamloops decided to go ahead with an increase to the cost of its dog licensing program.

That $5 hike went into effect last week, bringing the cost of licensing an unfixed dog to $65 and a fixed pooch to $30 a year.

That city also has a category for nuisance or aggressive dogs, which cost $105 to licence. A dog with a dangerous dog designation — meaning it’s mauled or killed an animal or human — will cost nearly double that to license.

The revenue from those licences is used, in part, for upgrades to the city’s network of dog-friendly parks, which includes 15 off-leash dog parks. Those improvements are worth in the neighbourhood of $35,000, and include lighting, signs and even toys for dogs.

The City of Kamloops issues something like 7,000 licences for pooches a year.

Those little tags mean city officials can track down where the dog belongs should it ever somehow escape.

While it is a good idea to have your information associated with your pet (they are yours, after all), it’s also a mandatory program that dog owners are expected to participate in.

In Merritt, the dog licensing program is mandatory as well, though it’ll cost you less than up the highway.

Neutered and spayed dogs in Merritt are $15 to licence, while their unfixed counterparts are $30.

However, if you have a dangerous dog, a licence will cost you $1,000 a year and they’ll get a special, distinctive tag. (The process of designating a “dangerous dog” is not clear, but the category exists in the city’s bylaws in writing, anyway.)

According to a report by the city’s bylaw officer included in the Sept. 24 council meeting agenda package, the City of Merritt has issued 483 dog licences this year.

That’s a lot of dogs, but it’s certainly not all the pet dogs in Merritt.

Besides being a requirement of living in city limits, licensing your dog means in the event it escapes, it can be returned.

Dogs can be crafty little weasels, and slip out from underneath the noses of even the most attentive owners.

Sure, people could go and get their own dog tags made up without registering them with the city, but then it wouldn’t be a revenue stream benefiting public coffers.

Interestingly, the City of Kamloops also runs a voluntary cat registration program. Participating in that program will set a cat owner back $40 one time, instead of yearly, and the city will issue a tag with a licence number linked to owners’ information just like with the dog program.

In other parts of Canada, there are many other cities that have made cat licensing mandatory.

In Edmonton, it’ll set you back $20 a year to licence your kitty — $75 if it’s not fixed.

Calgary’s cat and dog licensing program applies to all those four-legged fur-balls over three months old, as opposed to the standard six.

The City of Regina offers a hefty discount for kittens under six months old, spayed/neutered cats, and show cats with the proper documentation.

The City of Winnipeg is starting up its mandatory cat licensing program in January 2015.

Pet insurance can help cover unexpected vet bills, but it’s a buyer-beware market out there, just like with other types of insurance. Some research beforehand could save you a lot of trouble if your dog isn’t covered for a pre-existing condition or on travels outside of the country (lucky dog).

While critics may say these associated costs are nickel-and-diming pet owners and even discouraging pet ownership, I’m reluctant to paint it with such a simple brush.

These programs hold owners somewhat accountable for the behaviour of their pets in shared spaces, and can reunite a pet owner with their beloved animal in the event the pet makes a desperate bid for a life of leash-less freedom.

A pet is a big commitment, and $30 is chump change when it comes to the care of a dog in the long term — furry, loveable money pits that pets are.

Bowie officials showed their commitment to both two-legged and four-legged residents by supporting two initiatives aimed at caring for stray and pet cats.

On Nov. 17, Bowie started construction of a “cat room” at City Hall for lost domesticated cats and also formally approved a city-wide “trap-neuter-release,” or TNR, program designed to manage the feral cat population.

There could be more than 3,000 free-roaming cats in Bowie, based on a formula developed by Phoenix-based Petsmart Charities.

The cat holding room is an expansion of a temporary animal shelter built into City Hall in 2011 and is the result of a partnership between the city and Bowie Citizens for Local Animal Welfare, or CLAW.

Tara Kelley-Baker, president of CLAW, and CLAW vice president Michael Semeniuk presented the city with a $20,000 check on Nov. 17 to help fund the approximate $114,000 expansion and will reimburse the city $84,000 when the project is complete, Kelley-Baker said.

Kelley-Baker said the temporary shelter will prevent pet owners and animal control staff from traveling to the Prince George’s County animal shelter in Upper Marlboro as often for lost pets.

Dogs and cats will be housed in the temporary shelter for up to five days before taken to the county shelter, according to Bowie animal control.

“Bowie should be able to take care of its own animals,” Kelley-Baker said. “I think we should set an example for other cities that are able to do this and reduce the strain on the county facility. This is the best thing for Bowie. We’re really excited about it.”

Also on Nov. 17, City Council members agreed to support the TNR program by updating city code and potentially financially investing in it.

Most of the TNR efforts in the city are being organized by local animal welfare group Connie and Teri 4 Animals, said Connie Carter, co-president of Connie and Teri 4 Animals.

The TNR approach seeks to reduce feral cat colonies by neutering them and releasing them back into the wild, as opposed to euthanizing them, Carter said.

“I was extremely pleased to see that the city is now recognizing [TNR] as the way to help the cat population,” she said. “We see from working with the animals from the [Prince George’s County] shelter that there is a large cat population because we see them coming in all the time.”

Lila Pavelec of Bowie said she has been conducting TNR for 10 years and has released around 900 animals.

“Feral cats were created by people who were irresponsible, did not get their animals fixed, and released them out the door because they like to go outside,” she said. “We created this problem and we need to fix it. The only way to end it is catch these cats one at a time.”

Steve Roberts, who oversees Bowie’s animal control department, said both the new TNR program and the additional cat room will be assets to the city.

“We support and believe that TNR is very important and it’s being conducted in Bowie as we speak so we want to support that,” he said. “Our main objective [with lost pets] is to return any pet we find straight to its owner, and with the five days [pets can be held in the temporary shelter], this will allow us more time.”

Zoe also happens to be the inspiration behind Crowley’s latest pet project, a pet supply store.

Crowley opened Zoe’s Pet Deli in June of this year to capture a small part of the county’s nearly $60 billion pet industry.

The shop, in the First Street Community Center in Mount Vernon, is the perfect spot for owners and their pets to stop in and stock up on food, treats and other pet essentials.

Crowley said she especially loves when owners bring their dogs or cats in with them to shop, as she loves giving them free treats.

The products available at Zoe’s Pet Deli are all natural, Crowley said. She sells food, treats, vitamins and food bowls for dogs and cats as well as art work and collars made by local artists.

Crowley grew up in Mount Vernon but lived in Colorado and California for more than 10 years where she learned about healthy eating, both for herself and animals.

“Natural food is important for everyone,” she said. “You are what you eat and the same is true for dogs and cats.”

While she has degrees in marketing and advertising, Crowley said she always enjoyed her time working at small, locally owned pet shops. She dreamed of opening her own store, she said, and was finally able to do that when she moved back to Mount Vernon a few years ago.

“Mount Vernon is a town that is good about supporting local businesses,” she said. “And it was affordable for me to start this here. The overhead is much lower than if I’d tried this in Colorado or California.”

She still is new on the pet supply store scene, Crowley hopes the business continues to grow. Over the past few months, she has worked on developing a product list of items her customers want and need.

She also plans to host a variety of events and support other local organizations through her store. For example, she’ll offer a pet photo shoot on Small Business Saturday, Nov. 29, where customers can get their photo taken with their pet and take home a free 5 x7 print.

“I want to do stuff advertising wise that helps others,” she said. “I’m so passionate about this. I feel good when I’m here and it certainly doesn’t feel like work.”

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Pet owners looking to launch the next Internet sensation or just longing for a new view of their dog’s dashing and digging won’t have to shop for long to find the perfect holiday gift. Wrap up a dog harness that holds any durable, wearable camera and watch Frisbee fetch, lazy lap naps and every memory in between come alive.

GoPro Inc.’s Fetch dog harness fits over Fido’s chest or back and holds the small, waterproof camera known for attaching to helmets, surfboards, cars and wrists to film rugged adventures. Sony, Garmin and Kurgo also make camera mounts for dogs.

The device is among a legion of gifts that retailers have rounded up for pet wish lists this year. Narrowing it down is tough, but the harness tops the more unique options and creates footage that lasts.

The most pet-friendly camera in the GoPro Inc. line is the Hero4, which allows people to decide what the dog records and control all the functions with a touch screen, company spokeswoman Kelly Baker said. The camera sells for $399, and the mount costs $59.

The chest harness captures bone-chewing and digging, while the back mount films running and jumping, Baker said. They adjust to fit dogs weighing 15 to 120 pounds.

The canine camera view has proved popular. A video went viral of an eager Labrador strapped with a camera sprinting through trees and across rocks to an Italian beach, where it leaps into the ocean.

In this undated photo provided by PetSmart, Inc., Thor, a French bulldog, wears what is marketed as …

John Duffield of Santa Monica, California, loves the footage he got from the GoPro he mounted on his two dogs. He got enough shots to make a short video shortly before his chow-Labrador-Akita mix, Lupa, died.

But Duffield didn’t strap the camera to his Chihuahua, Pup, three months ago when he and his wife brought their newborn daughter home from the hospital.

“Pup is like a member of the family, too,” Duffield said. “He belonged in this picture because he was welcoming home part of his family.”

Those looking for pet gifts besides the traditional treats, new bowls and beds can give something unexpected such as:

In this undated photo provided by PetSmart, Inc., a West Highland White Terrier is photographed with …

They are the rage this year, so PetSmart Inc. will hawk ugly sweaters for cats and dogs from Bret Michaels’ Pets Rock line ($15.99), said Shelly Albrecht, spokeswoman for the national retailer. Swath pets in sweaters stitched with gingerbread men and Christmas trees and they could win worst-dressed at those seasonal ugly sweater parties popular with people.

PetSmart also is selling leg warmers online and in stores from Top Paw and Luv-A-Pet.

“STAR WARS” GEAR

Dogs will “use the force” with Petco’s line of “Star Wars” toys and clothing. Dress up dogs like Princess Leia with a headband sporting her signature bun hairstyle. The Death Star won’t menace when it comes as a treat dispenser ($7.49) or tug-of-war toy ($5.99).

Plush squeaker toys feature favorite characters — R2-D2, Chewbacca and Darth Vader — for less than $10. And don’t forget the cats — the Millennium Falcon flies at the end of a teaser toy string for less than $5.

In this undated photo provided by Solvit Pet Products, people push their dog in a bicycle trailer wi …

DEVICES FOR OLDER DOGS

Make it easier for your senior dog to get around safely with equipment from Solvit Pet Products (www.solvitproducts.com ). Help them avoid injury in the car with a Department of Transportation-tested safety harness ($30) and ease their way out of the vehicle with a ramp for those who can no longer jump ($159).

Keep them close on a bike ride with a bicycle trailer or stroller ($399) or with a wicker basket ($89).

GOURMET FARE

After romping in the snow, pets can warm up with San Diego-based Honest Kitchen’s Winter Warmers Broths. Just add hot water to the dehydrated mixes in chicken consomme, beef and bone, and turkey stock flavors. The company, which focuses on natural food good enough for people’s palates, offers the $19.99 three-box sets for a limited time.

Implementing a program like this is actually easier than you might think. The cost is minimal while the rewards are immeasurable.

Cleveland, OH (PRWEB) November 19, 2014

Local Cleveland business, Embrace Pet Insurance, has taken community involvement to the next level with their latest outreach effort. Step into one of their conference rooms and you’ll find that homeless cats and kittens are now being fostered at Embrace’s headquarters on Richmond Rd.

“We are so incredibly thankful to have the office space available to do this,” said Kate Zirkle, Marketing Services Manager and Foster Program Lead for Embrace. “This is an amazing way to uphold our Core Values while also enriching the lives of staff and cats alike.”

Embrace’s Cleveland headquarters consists of 50+ animal-loving employees, many of which have said, “I wish I could foster.” This new program makes that possible without fully taking on the responsibility alone.

Embrace encourages more businesses to consider opening their doors to homeless pets. According to Kate Zirkle, “Implementing a program like this is actually easier than you might think. The cost is minimal while the rewards are immeasurable.”

Embrace Pet Insurance is a member of the North American Pet Health Insurance Association (NAPHIA) and a proud winner of Cleveland.com’s Northeast Ohio Top Workplaces for 2014.

Embrace’s Co-Founder and CEO, Laura Bennett, believes that “this is another great example of an employee-driven program that helps make Embrace a fantastic place to work.” And with a cat snoozing in your lap while you work, it’s hard to argue with that statement.

About Embrace Pet Insurance

Embrace Pet Insurance is an Ohio-based pet health insurance provider, offering comprehensive, personalized insurance products for dogs and cats across the US. Embrace is consistently ranked as one of the highest-rated US pet insurance companies and is a proud member of the North American Pet Health Insurance Association. Embrace is the only company to offer a diminishing deductible feature, the Healthy Pet DeductibleTM, and continues to innovate and improve the pet insurance experience for pet parents across the country.

About NAPHIA

Founded in 2007, the North American Pet Health Insurance Association (NAPHIA) is comprised of experienced and reputable pet health insurance companies and pet health professionals whom are committed to advancing and growing the industry. NAPHIA fosters high standards for the industry on service, coverage and transparency; is a central resource for the gathering, analysis and reporting of information on pet health insurance; and supports responsible pet ownership through the promotion of a broad spectrum of pet health insurance coverage options. NAPHIA’s Membership collectively represents 95% of the pet insurance market, and provides coverage to more than 1 million pets across North America.